Case filed in Chimur minor abuse matter after sit-in; accused, a BJP functionary, still absconding

The alleged abuse of a minor girl in Chimur has stirred political and administrative circles. Shivani Wadettiwar of the Maharashtra Youth Congress claimed that a case was not being registered despite such a serious allegation, and sat on a sit-in at Chimur police station for this reason. Police registered a case after the sit-in, but the accused is reportedly still absconding.

It was said that the minor girl in Chimur was abused and that attempts were also being made to suppress the voice of the victim's family. On learning this, Wadettiwar dropped all her scheduled programmes and went straight to Chimur police station. She said police were stalling on registering a case, so she staged the sit-in inside the station.

Police eventually booked the accused under Section 64 (A) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

The accused is named as Gajanan Dhanraj Gudhde. He is the BJP's Chimur mandal president and a former sarpanch of the Adarsh Gram Panchayat of Satara village. He faces a serious allegation of abusing the minor girl. The protesters asked how the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, which calls women and girls "Ladli Behna" on the one hand, could be considered serious about women's safety, given what the Chimur incident shows. In their view, it is deeply worrying that, instead of getting the victim justice, an attempt was made to suppress her family's voice.

Wadettiwar said that having to stage a sit-in even to get a case registered in so grave a matter as the abuse of a minor girl raises questions about the functioning of the police administration. The case has been registered, yet the accused is absconding. She demanded that he be arrested immediately, that the girl get justice, and that her family face no pressure or threats of any kind.

A demand for strict and impartial action in the matter has been made to the police administration, so that such incidents are not repeated against minor girls and women. A memorandum with this demand was submitted to the police administration and also to MLA Bunty Bhangdiya.

Wadettiwar said clearly that her fight will continue until the victim gets justice and the accused is arrested and faces strict legal action. In her view, no one should be allowed to escape the law by using power or political position.

Viju Patil Gawande, Gajanan Butke, Junaid Khan, Prashant Dawale, Madhavbapu Birje, Shantaram Selwatkar, Sandeep Kaware, Ratnakar Vitale and Babbu Khan were among those present.